Nicolas Sarkozy DID take $50 million of Muammar Gaddafi’s cash, French judge is told

Documentary proof exists that France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy took more than €50m from the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, a French judge has been told.

The claim, leaked today, was made just before Christmas by a Lebanese-born businessman, Ziad Takieddine, who has been a fixer for legal – and allegedly illegal – dealings between France and the Middle East for 20 years.

Expanding on claims already made by one of Mr Gaddafi’s sons and a French investigative website, Mr Takieddine told an investigative judge that he could show him written proof that Mr Sarkozy’s first presidential campaign in 2006-7 was “abundantly” financed by Tripoli. The payments, he said, continued after Mr Sarkozy became President.